I would not worry yet, if I were you. Some kids talk a little later than others. This does not necessarily mean anything is wrong. As with all of the milestones, there is an age RANGE by which children reach them.

That said, I have a son with Down Syndrome. I will pass along some of the techniques I use to stimulate oral motor development...

With a small mirror, have your son mimic you making faces such as puckering, opening mouth wide, saying "ooooooo" (lips make a circle)... you get the point. Get those facial muscles moving.

Also, we use different flavors and textures to "awaken" the mouth muscles. We use a special "brush" with a flavor (sour, sweet, salty, etc.) and massage gums and tongue. You do not need the special brush to do this but, it helps.

Facial massage helps his awareness of his face and mouth. There is a very technical term for what he deals with. He will actually lose track of his body parts, including his face. If not addressed, this leads him to banging his chin on the floor, etc. Massage and joint compressions help alleviate this issue.

We have been using simple sign language for quite awhile. He is not coordinated enough to sign correctly but he tries VERY hard and I can usually figure what it is he is trying to communicate. Sign is a stepping stone for us until verbal expression develops. We have every reason to believe he will speak... in his own time.

All of this information may seem over the top for someone not dealing with a handicap. But, perhaps SOMETHING will be useful?

you do not have to worry dear... your son is still too young for his age to speak words clearly... i think you just talk to him every once in awhile so he could talk more... and you are right there 4given, your son will speak... in his own time

I wouldn't worry yet. My youngest sister didn't talk very much until she was well over two. There are three of us. I was 7 and my middle sister was 4 when our youngest sister was born. She didn't have to talk. She pointed and one of us got it for her. After our mother figured out what was going on and we stopped getting her things and she started talking.

I know someone now with a 2 yr old that only says 2 words. Their Dr. said don't worry about it, that they will start talking when they are ready.

Kids all develop at different paces. Enjoy it...when they can't talk yet they don't have the capabilities of talking back!

I know just how you feel. My son is nearly 20 months and 3 weeks ago he couldn't even say "mama". I brought it up with his doctor at his 15 month appointment and she scared me to death! She recommended sending him to speech therapy. After discussing it with family, we decided to hold off and wait. By his 18 month appointment, he still had no more than 4 words and those could have just been babbles that resembled words since he so often used them incorrectly. I sat through that appointment, still undecided if I should even bring it up to the doctor. I left it without broaching the subject.

Then suddenly, about three weeks ago, my son woke up, went to the fridge and said "juice". I was shocked! That day he picked up about 5 words. The next day, he picked up 10. Three weeks later, he has at least 100 words in his vocabulary that he uses correctly and many more that he repeats when we say them. I can now point to just about any common object (hat, ball, chair, etc) and ask "What is this?" He'll respond with the correct word, remarkably clearly spoken!

I have no idea what changed overnight for my son, but it goes to show that sometimes you just have to wait for them to get there on their own. They'll surprise your socks off.

Don't worry at all! My eldest son was an early talker and spoke so clearly and with a large vocabulary at 3.5 that people would ask if he was small for his age (he was actually tall for his age!) My youngest is nearly 4, and he didn't say more than 5 words until after his third birthday. I was so worried, especially since I was mistakenly measuring him against his older brothers accomplishments. My youngest now has a normal vocabulary for his age and speaks in complete sentences. He has other strengths (such as solving puzzles) that his brother doesn't and now I can see that he isn't behind. Sometimes I think kids also may just have nothing to say until they are older, but once they do, they'll figure out how to do it pretty fast!

My youngest son didn't talk until he was three. His older brother and sisters did all the talking for him, so he was never forced to speak for himself. However, once he did start talking, he never stopped and now he the chattiest one in our family:)